When I was a kid, Shark Week was almost a religious experience. Nature's most terrifying animal and the reason I still hyperventilate every time I feel a piece of seaweed brush past my leg in the ocean is exactly the reason it was crucial to have Discovery Channel growing up.

For the most part, my family didn't have cable when I was most obsessed with Shark Week, so we'd have to visit a relative's house to binge-watch the ocean's most terrifying predator. My older brother and I would huddle on the floor in a dark room with the blue of the TV screen bouncing off the walls — it felt like we were in the ocean. You know, without the threat of being eaten alive by a Great White.

Shark Week's a tradition that's been going strong for years now, and I could've never imagined when I was a child that there'd be something called memes about it when I was an adult, and yet here we are.

1. Some people pointed out the little known side perks of shark week.

Source: twitter

So when they're menacingly brandishing their many rows of teeth on camera, remember: they're not trying to be intimidating, they're just smiling for you.

2. Nothing gets people in the mood like Shark Week, either.

Source: twitter

Nothing like watching the ocean's most efficient predators to get you going.

3. This is what the Discovery Channel's building looks like during Shark Week.